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These Reds are a bloody bigger deal than previous efforts

The victory parade started outside the Air Canada Centre and will wrap up with a fan rally at Nathan Phillips Square.

That’s the fascinating question in the wake of Saturday’s MLS Cup victory by the Reds over Seattle, a win that reversed the shocking defeat of 12 months earlier and established TFC as one of the very best teams in league history. The club has vaulted past the CFL Argonauts into No. 4 on the pecking order in the GTA behind the Maple Leafs, Blue Jays and Raptors, it averages 27,770 per home game, and Saturday’s game drew a rather stunning 1.2 million sets of eyeballs on national television.

With three very expensive designated players in Sebastian Giovinco, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore, TFC looks poised to become one of the rich villains of the league, which has grown to 22 teams and will add a second franchise in Los Angeles next year. David Beckham’s franchise in Miami is still on tap, and there are two more expansion teams coming in 2020.

Clearly, MLS is growing. But where is it now, and where is it going?

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“I don’t think there’s any stopping it,” said former Canadian national team goalkeeper and current Sportsnet soccer analyst Craig Forrest. “It’s going to continue to get bigger, and they’re going to have to manage that.”

In terms of where MLS sits globally, however, Forrest points out that competitively, it doesn’t even yet rule the CONCACAF region. Mexico dominates the CONCACAF Champions League, although Montreal gave Club America of Mexico a run for its money two years ago.

It’s no surprise, then, that TFC president Bill Manning believes winning the CONCACAF Champions League is the next big step for his team.

“This team is as set to win CONCACAF as any MLS team ever has been,” said Manning. “That is the next step for MLS. Before we can even think about the teams in Europe, let’s be the best league in our region.”

In the history-laden and, let’s face it, snobbish world of international soccer, MLS is still viewed as a backwater, not a place where the best players play. The Bundesliga, England’s Premiership, Italy’s Serie A, France’s Ligue 1 and La Liga in Spain remain the leagues with the greatest marquee values and, for the most part, the best players.

The new MLS franchise in Atlanta, along with Seattle, have attendance figures to rival teams in the Bundesliga and Premiership. Otherwise, the average MLS attendance of about 22,000 is a major increase from about 17,000 a decade ago, and puts it on par with some European leagues, and double the Russian league.

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Really, it depends what you want to measure when it comes to defining where MLS is and where it’s going.

The average salary in MLS is something in the neighbourhood of $320,000 (U.S.), with more money in targeted allocation money coming into the system next season to attract more mid-level players. Orlando’s Kaka is the highest paid player at more than $7 million, while a youngster like Toronto goalie Alex Bono made $90,000 this season.

The league and its players union are in the third year of a five-year collective bargaining agreement, while MLS is midway through an eight-year U.S. television agreement worth about $90 million, with games on ESPN and Fox. TV numbers in the U.S. are still relatively small, with Premiership games regularly outdrawing MLS contests.

Still, most of the metrics would tell you MLS is in far better shape than the North American Soccer League ever was. Certainly, none of the previous Toronto pro teams ever made an impact like TFC has, with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment presenting the team in many ways on the same level as the Leafs and Raptors. Not surprisingly, when the Leafs faced off against Edmonton on Sunday night, there were members of TFC out to drop the ceremonial opening faceoff.

MLSE bought its team for $10 million a decade ago. Now, the asking price for MLS expansion teams is $150 million, and Forbes recently said the average MLS franchise is worth more than $200 million.

We can debate what exactly Beckham’s impact was during his years with the L.A. Galaxy. But the league, as a whole, is much stronger and more stable five years after his last game, although the future of the Columbus Crew and a possible move to Austin, Tex. is a troubling development for a league trying to develop fan loyalty.

Those who prefer older, established European leagues sneer at the quality of play in MLS, an image that will be hard to shake despite MLS commissioner Don Garber’s grand dreams.

“They can say they want to be No. 1 but are never going to be because they’re operating in the wrong market,” Sportsnet soccer analyst James Sharman said. “It’s a culture over there in Europe, not just a sport. Here in North America, we’re still trying to figure out what we are.”

The reality is that, unlike hockey or North American-style football, there are so many professional soccer leagues around the world it may not really matter where MLS ranks to international soccer critics. It’s all subjective. What matters is what MLS can sell to a North American public with rapidly changing demographics at a time when soccer is still a growing sport on a participation level.

Toronto FC, quite clearly, is going to be a key franchise for MLS, moreso than the Blue Jays are in Major League Baseball or the Raptors are to the NBA. Three of the top eight highest paid players in MLS play for the Reds, and it would appear TFC is going to continue to be one of the league’s highest-spending teams for the immediate future.

“You’re starting to see a shift to like it is in European leagues, with five or six dominant teams,” said Manning. “We can be at the head of that. That’s the trajectory of this team.”

TFC is indisputably the best of the rest in the MLS now. Beyond that, well, it’s going to be a function not only of what this soccer team can build, but where this league takes this sport in North America and beyond.

Damien Cox is the co-host of Prime Time Sports on Sportsnet 590 The FAN. He spent nearly 30 years covering a variety of sports for The Star. Follow him @DamoSpin. His column appears Tuesday and Saturday.

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